Christine O'Donnell didn't think she could win either

It seems that when her campaign ended this fall, Deleware senate candidate Christine O'Donnell had nearly a million dollars in her war chest left. Dave Weigel notes why this is significant:

Before she won her primary in Delaware, conservative opponents pointed out that O'Donnell, who had run twice for U.S. Senate before, had burned several former staffers who were not paid for their services. The knock on O'Donnell was that, in lieu of a stable career, she was making a living as a perennial candidate. Lo and behold: She ended her 2010 bid with $924,800 in her campaign war chest. That's about 13 percent of the money she raised for her entire campaign.

O’Donnell spokesman Matthew Moran said O’Donnell was advised by her attorney to reserve “several hundred thousand dollars” for after Election Day to use for legal challenges resulting from her campaign – such as a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission filed by the state GOP during the primary and a criminal complaint filed with the U.S. attorney’s office in Delaware by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

The campaign was also holding on to money for “the inevitable FEC wrap-ups because we had so many small donors, etc.” that ongoing legal actions could drag on for “years,” Moran wrote in an e-mail to POLITICO.

I could understand not spending everything, but holding on to nearly a million dollars, especially when you've previously come under fire for living off of campaign funds, does seem excessive.